#GivingTuesday: Five Effective Ways to Give Back

Today, November 28, 2017, is Giving Tuesday. Unlike Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which trended all over social media, there is less attention on #GivingTuesday – the more reason we are talking about it.

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving, which is celebrated each year the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The holiday was launched in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y in New York City and the UN Foundation to encourage philanthropy and charitable giving, especially on social media.

The day falls in line with the central spirit of the festive season which is all about giving. In 2016, people around the world gave a record of$168 million in charitable donationsfor #GivingTuesday. This is a 44% increase from the record in 2015, and millions of others (unrecorded) did something charitable to mark the day. The 2015 and 2016 figures broke the Guinness World Record for the most money donated to charity online in 24 hours.

Here are five effective ways you can give back today.

1. Give to a child: Giving gifts and money towards the welfare of a child is good because children and the future. Going beyond that and opening an account for a child will help teach her/him the basics of financial independence so they don’t have to depend on you for the rest of their life.

This way, you give a gift that keeps giving. Opening an account for a child is not restricted to your biological child only, any child is a child. You can challenge yourself and open one for a child not related to you, with the permission of their parents or guardians of course. The GTBank Smart Kids Save and SKS Teens accounts are great ways to encourage kids to save money and learn financial skills. Click herefor more information on this.

2. Spend time with the elderly, especially those who are homebound. Help an elderly neighbour with Christmas decorations, grocery shopping, yard maintenance – or simply spend some time with them talking and being a companion. This will mean more to them than you will ever know. You don’t have time today? Schedule the time for the weekend.

3. Say Something Nice:Find opportunities to give compliments. It costs nothing, takes no time, and could make someone’s entire day. Don’t just think it. Mean it. Some of the best gifts of life are imbedded in kind words and they are priceless, literally.

4. Give to Charity: Do you Know a credible charity organisation? An orphanage or health initiative for people with certain conditions and challenges? Don’t wait for Christmas to give. You can be an all year round Santa by giving today, anonymously preferably. Clothes, food items, medical aids, etc. Every little act of kindness is incredibly important.

5. Donate books: Libraries are a bank for ideas, therefore donating some books to a library or school helps in building a foundation of ideas that will benefit both children and adults. In such a way, you are making an impact in the lives of people you might never get to meet. Keeping Walter Cronkite’s quote in mind “Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”